Collaborative text editing: SciFlow conquers market with support from Lehmanns Media

Being able to work on texts together, but independent of location – since the Corona pandemic, this has become more important than ever. It’s no wonder that scientists and students in over 80 countries are now using the new SciFlow software to create collaborative and data-safe texts! We had the chance to speak with SciFlow co-founder Carsten Borchert. In the interview, he talks about the cooperation between SciFlow and Lehmanns Media and explains why it pays to stick to your own visions, especially in the fast-moving startup industry.

Mr. Borchert, can you briefly summarize for our readers what the special features of SciFlow are and which target groups you address?

SciFlow is a text editor for students and researchers that makes it particularly easy to write scientific papers. You can format automatically at the click of a button, reference management is particularly easy, and we place great emphasis on enabling collaborative work, including aspects of data security. With our product, we are primarily targeting universities that want to provide their members with digital services for distributed work.

You were named Content Startup of the Year 2020 by Contentshift. What do you think convinced the jury?

To be honest, we applied for the second time. After founding SciFlow in 2016, we didn’t make it past the first round in the 2017 competition. In 2020, we were much further along with our idea, or rather, we had a finished product and could show customers as well as sales.

The other thing is that we have a relatively big vision: We want to become THE scientific text editor used by students and researchers worldwide.

How do you convince universities to use your product?

We have a cooperation partner for sales and marketing: Lehmanns Media. By the way, the company is also on the Contentshift jury. Lehmanns Media helps us to become known at the universities and to establish contacts, e.g. via trade fairs, in-house events, websites and newsletters.

We then present SciFlow in webinars. Often we have to deal with the librarians of the universities who take care of the literature management programs or with the employees of the computer centers who are responsible for the software acquisition.

How did the cooperation with Lehmanns Media come about?

As one of the leading library suppliers in Germany, Lehmanns Media had long been an ideal contact for us to establish contacts in the universities. Through Contentshift, we were able to intensify our contact at various workshops and pitches. Our sales cooperation has now got off to a very good start. In addition, Lehmanns Media has invested in our company or acquired shares.

Can you still make your own decisions?

Yes, my co-founder and I still hold the majority of the shares and continue to operate independently in this respect. But of course we exchange ideas very intensively with our three shareholders, which include Lehmanns Media, Books on Demand and the business angel Sven Fund. All three have ideas and suggestions that we are happy to incorporate. It has to be said that these are not just any investors, but experienced investors from our industry. They know how it’s done!

CWould you recommend other startups to look for investors from within the industry?

No, you can’t say that across the board. When it comes to financing, every startup should find its own way.

In the meantime, you have become very successful. On the way there, however, you were asked to show a lot of stamina. What advice do you have for other startups?

Yes, it took us a relatively long time to get our first round of financing – more than 4 years. That’s why I can only recommend startups to consistently pursue their ideas and not let themselves be led off the path. You don’t have to follow every piece of advice or accept and implement every hint. Nevertheless, it is of course incredibly helpful to get feedback. However, keeping the big goal in mind should be the most important thing.

Contact

Website: sciflow.net

LinkedIn: Carsten Borchert